Apathy
by xkiwifeilanx
Summary: Set at the end of Drizzt and Entreri's final fight in 'The Silent Blade', Entreri comes to a startling realization after his defeat.


Disclaimer: I don't own the rights to The Legend of Drizzt. R.A. Salvatore does.

"Just because you had the luck this time of an unfortunate hit, that makes me the better fighter!?" Drizzt exclaimed, panting from the constant motion of their fight that had just finally ended in his favor.

A sharp scimitar pressed to the skin of Entreri's neck, ending their long and hard battle that had pushed them both to their limits. Entreri had obtained a blow to his right eye, causing it to swell shut and put him at a disadvantage, while Drizzt had the luck of only a small cut to the wrist. With Entreri's injury working against him, in the end, Drizzt had won. And Entreri was left mulling over his defeat.

Entreri's thoughts found that the fight really hadn't proven anything for him, and it hadn't shown him anything as he had once thought it would. He had thought it over all this time, during the fight and even before then. The reason for his apathy all these years, his disinterest in the goals of power that the younger version of him would have desired, the reason that he felt the fight really hadn't proved anything to him, except that when he had seen the drow again in Jarlaxle's scrying glass for the first time in years, excitement rose in his chest, and that it had been an exhilarating fight. It was then he realized.

"It was you. It was always you, Drizzt Do'Urden." And then Entreri dropped his dagger to the ground, the weapon dropping far to the ground from the platform they were on with a sharp thunk, and with his free hand gripped the clothing of Drizzt's collar, pulled him forward and pressed their lips together. It tasted of the saltiness of sweat and slight copper of blood, and Drizzt immediately stiffened at the unexpected contact. Entreri had doubts perhaps of his life, due to the fact that Drizzt had been pressing a sharp scimitar to his neck when Entreri initiated the startling contact. He found that he didn't much care. He felt it nick his neck a little deeper with a slight biting pain, then it vanished as it was dropped, landing with a clatter nearby his dagger. Entreri was actually surprised as Drizzt, who hadn't moved the entire time, moved into the kiss and wrapped an arm about his neck, still not letting go of his wrist that had held the dagger, and Entreri's lips moved upward into a smirk.

Entreri opened his eyes for a moment-or at least the left one that wasn't swollen shut-and looked at the ice crystal walls surrounding them, knowing for a fact that Jarlaxle was watching from somewhere. There was no way he had orchestrated the fight to this extent and not watched to see the outcome of it all, and Entreri honestly couldn't give a damn. He wrapped his free arm tight about the drow's slender waist, bringing them closer together, closed his eyes once more and continued deeper into the kiss, releasing years of frustration of his unknown cause of apathy, and perhaps love, but did Artemis Entreri love?

Indeed, Jarlaxle was still watching with a knowing smirk on his face from the transparent wall of the tower, for with his all too sharp perceptions of understanding people, had seen this development coming miles before Entreri had realized it. The two members of his band stood beside him and made no effort of hiding the repulsion on their faces at the intimate relations of a drow, one of their kind, with the filthy lesser race of a human- even though that human was Artemis Entreri, a human they had grudgingly admitted acted more drow than anyone of the lesser race of humans they had seen. On the other side of the outside tower, another transparent wall showed Drizzt's friends with all their mouths gaping open, Jarlaxle saw with amusement.

Finally, they broke away, out of breath. Entreri knew it was a dangerous slope he had just stepped on here, for numerous reasons. For as between all relations between elves and humans, life spans were vastly different. And there were many problems that they would have to work out, but he pushed them aside for later.

Entreri pushed Drizzt down on the long platform, holding the slender wrists to either side with his hands, and knelt down on top of him, once again tilting his head and pushing their lips together. He felt the stings of the many superficial cuts he had obtained during their fight as he moved but they were of no real hindrance.

He had finally found the truth in his apathy, and for the first time in years, he felt satisfied and content.

Notes: These were the yaoi thoughts that came on unexpectedly when I read this book and it made me pause in reading for a while. I admit, that although I didn't ship them from the beginning, it is a quite good pairing with both Drizzt and Entreri being rivals and equals in swordmanship, mirrors of each other, Entreri being who Drizzt could have been like had circumstances been different, a much darker outcome. And with Entreri later obsessing over Drizzt to get him to fight him. Perhaps there could be an AU where Drizzt meets Entreri much earlier, changing either of their circumstances for good or bad.

Let me know what you think! Thanks for reading! :)


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